Abstract
Primary productivity and respiration were measured in Rattlesnake Springs, Washington, using the upstream-downstream diel pH-CO2 curve and harvest methods.
Daily Pg and Pn rates averaged 8.7 and 0.9, 0.6 and 0.3, and 9.3 and 1.2 g C m−2 d−1 for periphyton, watercress, and total community, respectively. Average photosynthetic efficiencies (%, P n Lt−1) were approximately 0.22 and 0.07 for periphyton and watercress, respectively. Annual community Pg was 2 700 g C m−2 a−1 and was highest for periphyton (2 526 g C m−2 a−1). Periphyton Pn (356 g C m−2 a−1) exceeded that of watercress (87 g C m−2 a−1). Community R was 2 257 g C m−2 a−1, and was highest for periphyton (2 170 g C m2 a−1).
Desert streams appear to be enigmas in terms of their relationship between autotrophy and heterotrophy and their ability to be net importers or exporters of organic matter. The fact that they can be autotrophic and net importers of organic matter is probably related to the characteristic flash-flooding of desert streams, and emphasizes the necessity of examining these systems over more than a single annual cycle.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beyers, R. J. & H. T. Odum, 1959. The use of carbon dioxide to construct pH curves for the measurement of productivity. Limnol. Oceanogr. 4: 499–502.
Beyers, R. J., J. L. Larimer, H. T. Odum, R. B. Parker & N. E. Armstrong, 1963. Directions for the determination of changes in carbon dioxide concentration from changes in pH. Publ. Inst. mar. Sci. Texas 9: 454–489.
Bott, T. L., J. T. Brock, C. E. Cushing, S. V. Gregory, D. King & R. C. Petersen, 1978. A comparison of methods for measuring primary productivity and community respiration in streams. Hydrobiologia 60: 3–12.
Busch, D. E. & S. G. Fisher, 1981. Metabolism of a desert stream. Freshwat. Biol. 11: 301–307.
Cummins, K. W., J. R. Sedell, F. J. Swanson, G. W. Minshall, S. G. Fisher, C. E. Cushing, R. C. Petersen & R. L. Vannote, 1983. Problems in evaluating organic matter budgets for stream ecosystems. In J. R. Barnes & G. W. Minshall (eds.), The Testing of General Ecological Theories in Stream Ecosystems. Plenum Press, N. Y.: 299–354.
Cushing, C. E., C. D. McIntire, J. R. Sedell, K. W. Cummins, G. W. Minshall, R. C. Petersen & R. L. Vannote, 1980. Comparative study of physical-chemical variables of streams using multivariate analyses. Arch. Hydrobiol. 89: 343–352.
Cushing C. E. & E. G. Wolf, 1982. Organic energy budget of Rattlesnake Springs, Washington. Am. Midl. Nat. 107: 404–407.
Duffer, W. R. & T. C. Dorris, 1966. Primary productivity in a southern Great Plains stream. Limnol. Oceanogr. 11: 143–151.
Gelroth, J. V. & G. R. Marzolf, 1978. Primary production and leaf-litter decomposition in natural and channelized portions of a Kansas stream. Am. Midl. Nat. 99: 238–243.
Gray, L. J. & S. G. Fisher, 1981. Postflood recolonization pathways of macroinvertebrates in a lowland Sonoran desert stream. Am. Midl. Nat. 106: 249–257.
Hornuff, L. E., 1957. A survey of four Oklahoma streams with reference to production. Okla. Fish. Res. Lab. Rep. 62, Norman, Okla., 22 pp.
Haynes, H. B. N., 1969. The enrichment of streams. In Eutrophication: Causes, Consequences, Correctives. Natl. Acad. Sci., Wash. D. C.: 188–196.
Knight, A., R. C. Ball & F. F. Hooper, 1962. Some estimates of primary production rates in Michigan ponds. Mich. Acad. Sci. 42: 219–233.
Lewis, M. A. & S. D. Gerking, 1979. Primary productivity in a polluted intermittent desert stream. Am. Midl. Nat. 102: 172–174.
Lippert, B. E. & C. E. Cushing, 1973. Taxonomy of Rattlesnake Springs (ALE) algae. In Pacific Northwest Laboratory Annual Report for 1972 to the USAEC Div. of Biomedical and Environmental Research, Vol. I, Life Sciences, Part 2 Ecological Sciences, BNWL-1750: 6.15–6.16.
Minshall, G. W., 1978. Autotrophy in stream ecosystems. Bio-Science 28: 767–771.
Odum, E. P., 1959. Fundamentals of Ecology. W. B. Saunders Co., Philad., 546 pp.
Odum, H. T., 1956. Primary production in flowing waters. Limnol. Oceanogr. 1: 102–117.
Owens, M. & R. W. Edwards, 1961. The effects of plants on river conditions, 2. Further crop studies and estimates of net productivity of macrophytes in a chalk stream. J. Ecol. 49: 119–126.
Park, K., D. W. Hood & H. T. Odum, 1968. Diurnal pH variations in Texas bays and its application to primary production estimates. Publ. Inst. mar. Sci. Texas 5: 47–64.
Pennak, R. W., 1971. Toward a classification of lotic habitats. Hydrobiologia 38: 321–334.
Prophet, C. W. & J. D. Ransom, 1974. Summer stream metabolism values for Cedar Creek, Kansas. S. West. Nat. 19: 305–308.
Rickard, W. H. & C. E. Cushing, 1982. Recovery of streamside woody vegetation after exclusion of livestock grazing. J. Range. Mgmt. 35: 360–361.
Ruttner, F., 1963. Fundamentals of Limnology. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. 295 pp.
Strahler A. H., 1957. Quantitative analysis of watershed geomorphology. Am. Geophys. Un. Trans. 38: 913–920.
Strickland, J. D. H. 1960. Measuring the production of marine phytoplankton. Fish. Res. Bd Can. Bull. 122, 172 pp.
Vannote, R. L. & R. C. Ball, 1972, Community productivity and energy flow in an enriched warm-water stream. Tech. Rep. 27, Inst. Wat. Res. Mich. St. Univ., 155 pp.
Vannote, R. L., G. W. Minshall, K. W. Cummins, J. R. Sedell \& C. E. Cushing, 1980. The river continuum concept. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 37: 130–137.
Verduin, J., 1960. Phytoplankton communities of western Lake Erie and the CO2 and O2 changes associated with them. Limnol. Oceanogr. 5: 372–380.
Westlake, D. F., 1969. Primary production rates from changes in biomass — macrophytes; Units and compatibility. In R. A. Vollenweider (ed.), A Manual on Methods for Measuring Primary Production in Aquatic Environments, IBP Handbook 12: 25–32, 113–118.
Wolf, E. G., C. E. Cushing & F. W. Rabe, 1971. An automated system for multiple recording of diurnal pH. Limnol. Oceanogr. 16: 577–580.
Wolf, E. G. & R. J. Olson, 1974. A computer program used to estimate primary productivity from pH and carbon dioxide data employing the upstream-downstream method. BNWL-1828, Battelle-Pacific NW. Lab., 23 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cushing, C.E., Wolf, E.G. Primary production in Rattlesnake Springs, a cold desert spring-stream. Hydrobiologia 114, 229–236 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00031874
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00031874